THE family of a 'besotted' man stabbed to death by his 'feisty' lover after a quarrel have spoken of their heartbreak over his loss.

Cordelia Farrell was jailed for 10 years at Worcester Crown Court on Thursday after she was unanimously convicted of manslaughter and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The 38-year was cleared by a jury of Wayne Coventry's murder after she plunged the blade into his chest to a depth of 9cm, piercing his aorta.

In reaching the verdict they rejected her argument she had acted in self-defence but accepted she had not intended to kill him.

Mr Coventry, a 36-year-old father-of-three, died on the kitchen floor of his brother's home in Humphrey Avenue, Bromsgrove on October 14 last year within a minute or two of being stabbed, as previously reported.

The attack came just over a month after she grabbed him by the testicles in a 'vice-grip', twisting them, dragging him around by them and biting them before she stabbed him in the back with a piece of broken crockery.

This bloody assault happened on September 11 last year after he told her he had sex with someone else and had given her chlamydia, a claim which the judge acknowledged was 'no doubt false' and caused by his 'general tendency to jealousy'. Farrell was also unanimously convicted of this attack by the jury.

Victim impact statements were read out on behalf Shannon Coventry, Wayne Coventry's eldest child and his mother by prosecutor Dafydd Enoch QC.

Shannon Coventry said she had not seen her father for 18 months before he was killed but this was not because she did not love him but that Farrell had treated him 'in a way I could not watch'.

In the statement she said she found it difficult to live in Bromsgrove because that was where her father was killed and now spends most of her time in Redditch.

She said: "Dad you always made me smile. You were the person who made everyone smile and laugh with your silly stories and your jokes."

Miss Coventry said he had given his three children memories, including teaching his son how to ride a dirt bike. She wrote: "Everyone misses you. You will always be in our heart."

She said she still messaged her father's WhatsApp every day 'either telling you I miss you or I'm sorry or even having a normal conversation with you' and added: "I sit there and hope there's a reply from you again."

She added: "I can't help but feel so alone and vulnerable. I try so hard to act strong. I try so hard not to cry but I think about you all the time.

"Thank you for everything. Thank you for making my years growing up with you amazing. You were gone too soon. I wish I got to see you one last time before you went because I never got to say goodbye."

Mrs O'Brien, Mr Coventry's mother, said the family had tried to convince him to have no more to do with Farrell but that her son was 'terrified of being on his own and ignored advice'.

"As a mother it was extremely hard to understand his unwillingness to see the dangers we could see" she said.

She also spoke of her anxiety and depression and loss of sleep after his death and said, because of Farrell, she had not been able to say goodbye to her son.

Referring to his early years she said Wayne had been 'a miracle birth' as she was told she could not have any more children.

"He was an extremely happy baby, always smiling and a quick learner" she said.

Miss O'Brien described how her son, who had been a keen footballer, withdrew from family and friends after he met Farrell, becoming 'infatuated' with her and that, as a result, his relationship with his children suffered.

Judge James Burbidge QC extended his condolences to the family, calling their loss 'immeasurable'.